All posts tagged car sales

U.K. consumer spending looks set to make a healthy contribution to economic growth in the latter half of the year, with the retreat in inflation and the recent increase in employment sparking increased spending on big ticket items such as cars.

The latest Rightmove house price survey for the early part of October reported an increase of £8,310 ($13,364) as sellers sought to take advantage of increased demand for homes after a quiet summer period.

And, Autotrader, a similar website to Rightmove but for automobiles rather than homes, said the average price for a vehicle advertised for sale with Autotrader rose 3% in September from the previous month, the biggest single month rise since February 2011.

“The price of big ticket purchases seems to be increasing, as the Auto Trader Retail Price index is mirroring the rise in house prices,” said Tim Peake, director of strategy at Auto Trader.

The increase in asking prices and sales of homes and cars in the U.K. is certainly welcome news for the recession-hit economy which has contracted for the past three quarters. Though it raises questions about the likely success of the U.K. Government’s efforts to rebalance the economy towards production and exports.

The company’s second-quarter earnings sent shares down more than 4% despite being “roughly in line” with estimates, according to J.P. Morgan analyst Bernard Donges.

BMW’s profits fell year-on-year due to higher costs and a large one-off gain that inflated last year’s result, but both revenue and vehicle sales reached new record highs in the second quarter as demand for premium cars continued to surge.

“BMW’s results are still excellent versus historic norms and fine versus consensus … but we have to admit we had hoped for more,” Sanford Bernstein analyst Max Warburton wrote in a note.

“An 11.6% auto margin is not to be sniffed at, and is at the same levels as in the first quarter – but we had convinced ourselves that is was more likely to be 13%,” he said.

BMW admitted that it faced declining sales in some European countries hit by tough austerity measures…

One swallow does not a summer make, as the saying goes. But the French car registrations data out Wednesday were a welcome ray of sunshine for the sector after the doom and gloom of recent months.

To be sure, the market continued to contract in April, down 1.6% year-on-year, but that’s a far cry from the 30% drop recorded in the first three months of this year.

However, that massive first-quarter contraction chiefly reflected a huge bulge in the corresponding period of 2011 as car manufacturers delivered cars that were ordered before a scrapping incentive scheme was phased out at the end of 2010.

April’s–relatively-good showing to a large extent reflected an 8.9% rise in sales at Peugeot Citroen, helped by the launch of its new Peugeot 208 compact.

Fiat will start publishing its sales figures on a monthly basis–brand by brand, region by region–in its latest attempt to convince investors of its global reach.

It’s not surprizing. Today, the Italian car maker revealed car sales in its home market had pulled into the slow lane. Among its brands, sales of Fiat autos fell 36% to 24,900, Lancia dropped 29% to 6,490, and Alfa Romeo tumbled 46% to 3,889 in March.

The automaker, often criticized in Italy for seemingly losing interest in its home country after acquiring Chrysler Group in the United States, posted for the first time on its website sales figures for February in tabulated form. It also published cumulative numbers since January.

Monthly European car sales figures out Tuesday morning back other economic data and highlight the widening gulf between Europe’s boomers and laggards.

The figures are now clean, with no benefit from any scrapping schemes, so they’re a good economic indicator in their own right. We’re talking big-ticket items here, so it’s clear which consumers have spending power and which have none.

Just look at the figures from some of the bloc’s more compromised countries. Portugal’s down 21% on the year, Greece down 55% and Spain down 29%, although Ireland’s car sales were actually up 5%.

Then those in the middle of the economic divide: the U.K. saw registrations decline 7.9% and Italy by 28%.

But France and Germany are powering ahead with registrations up 6.1% and 11% respectively.

Impressive performances, stellar results, blowout beats to analyst estimates: A flourish of trumpets for the European auto sector this earnings season. So, why is the Euro Stoxx autos and parts index trading in line with levels of August 2009, August 2008 and August 2006?

The harsh reality is that the outlook is dreadful and, post-incentives, the auto industry is going nowhere, just when the Chinese market, a big bet for many global players, is slowing down.

Despite strong second-quarter free cash flow figures and hefty margins across Europe’s mass and luxury segments, the sword of Damocles is still hovering over auto makers. M&A is needed, as we have noted previously, and now even more so than at this time last year, or the year before, or the year prior to that.

But it won’t come easily, meaning the sector risks being left up to its waist in overcapacity and with structural inefficiencies all along the value chain.

Rather, the next few months will likely be characterized by minor corporate activity, with companies looking to prune their corporate trees via spin-offs…